The member agencies of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council
(FFIEC) and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors today announced the release
of LESSONS LEARNED FROM HURRICANE KATRINA: Preparing Your Institution for
a Catastrophic Event.The booklet relays financial institutions’ experiences
and lessons learned in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that other institutions
may find helpful in considering their readiness for a catastrophic event.

Financial institutions face a wide variety of disasters across the United States
that could have potentially devastating consequences. Following Hurricane Katrina,
institutions’ existing disaster recovery and business continuity plans
generally worked well in enabling institutions to restore operations swiftly.
However, the unprecedented destruction and aftermath of the hurricane caused
major disruptions that exceeded the scope of some institutions’ disaster
recovery and business continuity plans. Major hardships faced by these institutions
included the following:

Communications outages made it difficult to locate missing
personnel.

Access to and reliable transportation into restricted areas
were not always available.

Lack of electrical power or fuel for generators rendered computer
systems inoperable.

Multiple facilities were destroyed or sustained significant
damage.

Some branches and ATMs were under water for weeks.

Mail service was interrupted for months in some areas.

Financial institutions demonstrated great
resiliency, working together to create solutions that allowed them
to successfully operate under very difficult circumstances and
to assist customers and communities in recovering from the hurricane.

The lessons learned booklet is available on
the FFIEC’s
web site at www.ffiec.gov/katrina_lessons.htm as
well as on each agency’s web
site. Insured depository institutions will soon receive a hard
copy or an electronic copy of the booklet.

Media Contacts:

Federal Reserve

Deborah Lagomarsino

202-452-2955

FDIC

David Barr

202-898-6992

OCC

Bryan Hubbard

202-874-5770

OTS

Katie Fitzgerald

202-906-6677

NCUA

Cherie Umbel

703-518-6330

CSBS

Mary White

202-728-5715

The FFIEC was established in March 1979 to prescribe uniform principles,
standards, and report forms and to promote uniformity in the supervision
of financial institutions. The Council has five member agencies:
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration,
the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Office of
Thrift Supervision. The Council's activities are supported by interagency
task forces and by an advisory State Liaison Committee, comprised
of five representatives of state agencies that supervise financial
institutions.

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Last Modified: 08/03/2016 2:00 PM